Vaovoa

Doing this for the 2nd time...the joy of things that dont work right.

6/10/08
Comfortable being a "have"

Imagine a person moving in next door, they have a big house, they have nice things, a company car, they can buy food with ease and with the luxury of choice. Imagine being that “rich” person (me).
I’m struggling coming to terms with this reality. Everywhere I go I am watched with a continual gaze-part envy and part curiosity. My bike is like having a Land Rover when only a lucky few have a Ford-Pinto.
What is the Poverty like in St. Luce?
As mentioned before, my host family would have been one of the poorest in the community we trained in-St. Luce makes my host family seem well off.
If you’re a male you fish-good money, but the sea is unpredictable. Women care for children, farm cassava and sell extra fish and cassava to fellow villagers (family) and the porters that bring the daily fish to the main road 15k (Mahatalaky) to go to market.
The Sea is the like-line of the community. Every respectable family owns a boat. Wealth does exist here….and its more apparent the longer I live here. Some have nice cloths, larger houses, can eat a more varied diet (some could be considered overweight by US standards)
Wealth is expressed in a feeling of comfort. Peace Corps gives me a modest living allowance $24 USD a month, its small but still makes me feel like a millionaire at times.


6-11-08
Another Development Downer

If you have a toothbrush and it works-no cavities, no issues. Why would you put your life on hold to learn about a new electrical version? (Best analogy I could come up with-guess what I was doing when I came up with it?)
This is the situation my NGO found itself in today—a common experience in the “murky waters” of development.
THE SITUATION:
We want to save the forest. People cut down the forest for firewood. Introducing feul efficient cook stoves seems like a rational solution. Decrease the amount of firewood and save trees. Funding was found and the project implemented. Six people showed up for the training .

In Anthropology its called the emic vs. etic perspective (insider vs. outsider view) . What seems practical as an outsider doesn’t always take into account those you are trying to help. We know that the forest needs—Stop cutting it down! What about the people? What are their wants and needs?
After today I began to recognize that this will be a large part of my job here. Helping to bridge two very different worlds….

*Taken from the book ‘Out of Poverty”
Food for thought…..
“Sadly, the people in charge of the world’s poverty programs rarely focus on simple solutions, and the monumental investments made in poverty programs rarely focus on simple solutions, and the monumental investments make in poverty eradication initiatives have at best produced meager results.”
“We have invested a staggering $568 billion in development aid in Africa over the past 42 years and have very little to show for it”, says William Easterly, formerly a senior economist at the World Bank. Over those same 42 yrs. The per capita growth rate of the median African nation has stayed close to zero. “

Why...?


6-15-08
The Joy of Play

The children here are remarkable! I read recently a quote (from a book given to me by Mrs. Joanie Perkins) that said something along the lines that “the issue with US poverty is that the “poor” in the US have forgotten how to be “poor.” We all live in the suburbs with nice things and where more is better.
The children here don’t need Ipods, video games, or TVs, they invent their own entertainment. Here is a small list of what I’ve seen. Each can entertain for hours.
Tapy- an unripe Nato fruit with a stick through the middle. Used as a top and is spun with a rope.
Picutre drawling in the dirt (universal)
Valala- a live cricket tied to a string (think top plane, but living)
Capshill- a game played like shuffle board with old bottle caps.
Kanett- a game played with marbles (kind of like mini-golf…?)
A bombill- a stick with a bottle tied to the end-makes a neat noise when you drag it. Some have wheels.
Toy Laka- Built out of a Papaya. They play in puddles with it.
I watched a kid build a moto out of sticks (no need for Power Wheels here!)

6-17-08
A Long Day

I thought it would be a good idea to eat some greens this week and bought them from a friend—Lets just say I must have missed a step in treating them before eating them.
Being sick here is not like being sick at home. Your are alone—No TV, a pounding head makes reading difficult, body achs restricts movement (no radio). What do you do between frequent trips to the hole in the ground?
Its just my bed, the four walls of my house, the sound of shouting children (think inner-city park), a Nalgene full of salt water (oral rehydration salts), and my aches and pains.
Today I missed Home….really bad…

6-20-08
My Subsistence

“God….if I know it was going to be this bad I would have brought your some vegetables.”
-Steve, Director of Peace Corps Madagascar

Steve came for a surprise visit today to check up on things, he was in the area and took advantage by visiting volunteers in the Ft. Dauphin region. His comment above made me stop and reflect on my food situation here. My diet doesn’t get much variety but its getting better as I get more inventive the longer I am here. I have four staple food that I know I can always get, they include rice, cassava, and peanuts. Veggies are rare-I’m lucky if I can buy a green pepper at my market. Onions are really the only veg. easily found and available in St. Luce. The wonderful news is that I have a garden right now and if all goes well I should have beans, peas, onions, garlic, tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers, potatoes, bananas, and watermelon all in a few months…..
*I’m not starving, don’t panic!
Its strange how removed you become. It took a comment like Steve’s to remind me what I have to look forward to when I go to Ft. Dauphin and Tana. By the way…I had no problems eating all that junk food he brought.

6-27-08
A Middle Class

I live on less than one US dollar a day. But I’m not the only one who has expendable income.
I was sitting reading a book by candle light when I heard the knock on the door.
“Ody Oh!...Salama eh!”
It was Kolastant.
After the standard greeting, he invited me over to his father’s house (Sasony-my counterpart).
I quickly grabbed a sweat shirt and closed/locked my door. We walked the 200 meters down the sandy road to Sasony’s. (Quickly stopping along the way so he could replenish an old coke bottle with some moonshine-homemade rum made of sugarcane)
As we approached Sasony’s house the sound of music and the hum of a generator became more prominent. I knew Sasony had just returned from Ft. Dauphin, buy I had no idea he purchased a generator. As I approached the doorway it was clearly noticeable that the room was not only lit from the warm glow of a low watt bulb, but with the smiles and laughter of everyone packed inside the small 2 room hut.
I took a seat next to Sasony in the corner. For 3 hours we sat-I danced a little to the five songs that were played on repeat. He sat motionless with a small grin while he soaked up the radiant joy of the room packed with his grandchildren. The children danced themselves to complete exhaustion.
There is a “middle class” here but its an elite. A private club with only a few lucky members. They work for my NGO (ie Sasony) , they work for the mining company, which has a small camp that employs locals as guards and caretakers, and they work for the Madagascar govt. (as school teachers, politicians, or implementers of national programs-nutrition). The small shop holders do well, but all work or have worked in one the 3 groups mentioned (that’s how they got the start-up capitol). It’s a small version of the “power elite.”
Thinking about it, maybe Jeff Sachs (economist in charge of the UN’s millennium initiative) is correct when he suggests giving everyone 500 USD as a legitimate way out of pversty. It seems that the members of the “Elite” here have been given opportunity from a 3rd party and have invested it to increase wealth. (Sasony plans on using the generator to start a little movie theater showing films for a small price).

6-29-08
My Starbucks
Since I come from a family of diehard coffee drinkers I feel it is approapriate for me to comment on my “Starbucks” a.k.a Madame Sarahfyn’s coffee.

The coffe here is an “local” as coffee can get. The coffee is farmed 80k away in the town of Ranomifana (I visited PC friends and have seen the coffee growing under the shade of Neem Trees).
Sarahfyn’s coffee is the best in St. Luce. (I have tried all) She gives the most, which as an American I like…I tell here all the time her coffee is the same as in American..Delicious! She even has pastries, small fried dough balls. All my walks usually include a visit and I usually bring a bucket along to collect her coffee ground for my garden (great compost!)

7/1/08
A call to Culture and the Guilt that Follows

I’m not sure if its because I was an anthropology major in college or I just over think things…but they thought of teaching English here makes me feel a bit guilty, like I am destroying something “unique” by helping to assimilate yet another group of people into the mono-culture of the global world.
English has been adapted by the govt. and encouraged in schools and everyone is eager to learn-I get asked at least once a day if I can teach.
One of the goals of Peace Corps is to Educate other ‘Cultures” about American Culture (the ambassador portion of my job). But I need help this task. You can help by including a cultural picture item with any mail you send. Culture is a broad term and you may be thinking….where do I begin? What would be interesting to share? I assure you that anything would help me in fulfilling this part of my job. Peace Corps already provides me with Newsweek Mags., but most of the picture are political (Picture are the best).
I just want to say Thank You. I haven’t been receiving mail since I arrived at site- two months now-and is one of the many things I need talk with PC headquarters about. Anyway, thank you friends, family and past Co-workers (United Way) for all the support! It helps in a BIG way.

7-4-08
Happy Independance Day!

I wanted to just write quickly about the progression of things here. I’m tow months at site and each passing day feels more and more comfortable. Although each day is a rollercoaster with its many peaks and valleys, overall things are good. This experience is providing me with one hell of a challenge….this is hard!
Communication/language is still a struggle. Generally they pace of things is slow and the daily routine is as unpredictable as the sea. You are always in the “hot seat.” Continually learning from mistakes, answering questions, surviving—sleep is the only real time for rest.
The cook stoves my NGO built has cracked—we think the damp weather didn’t aid in them completely drying before being used.
We planted 300 moringa trees a month ago for Env. Day most of which have died. The eight (not ten) that I planted near my house are doing real well and I’m currently building a sign and promotional poster to display near them.
I’m working with a local on deigning a t-shirt to use a s a possible fund-raiser (more details to come). Still working on logistics. I’ll post more about this later.
The garden is doing well—all my seed with the exception of Basil have germinated. My tomatoes are another story, they have developed a purple tint on the underside of the leaves and aren’t growing (a nutrient deficiency-phosphorus I think…) I’m experimenting with some organic fertilizers-urine, cow tea, kelp.
I hope to get in contact with a guy from USAID (State Dept Aid program) about a new variety of sweet potato with more nutritional benefits than the variety already being grown.
I have IST (in service training) in August and look forward to seeing friends and learning about funding opportunities for various projects.
Thank you all for the support (prayers, letters, emails, and comments) please keep them coming. Also, I have just learned that my Grandmother is going into Surgery-I don’t know any details. But thoughts and prayers are always welcome!

Thank you and until next time,
-Brendan